Byrd head track coach LaMark Carter (right) talks to Byrd head football coach Mike Suggs during the District 1-5A championship track meet Thursday at Lee Hedges Stadium in Shreveport.

Written by

Kelly Morris
kmorris@shreveporttimes.com

LaMark Carter has no trouble remembering the first day of the 2008 Olympics, but it has nothing to do with the opening ceremonies in Beijing, China.

Shreveport's Olympic triple jumper went for a routine drive to check on the construction of his new house. He remembers the rain on his trip down 70th street behind the Shreveport Regional Airport, but then his memory turns foggy.

Another car hydroplaned into his car, and Carter's life suddenly hung in the balance. He had to be cut from his SUV and suffered multiple injuries, but it was his broken left hip that kept him bound to a wheelchair for three ...